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When Carla Bramall was just 30 years old, she began to show symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Many people in her family – her father, grandfather, and uncle – all had the disease and eventually lost their lives to it. They were all in the 40s when they passed.
Now, Bramall is 39 years old, and in the past nine years, she’s lost her ability to recognize her family, her ability to take care of herself, and even her ability to speak or move.
Bramall spends most of her time in bed in a care home, and when she does get up, it’s always within the confines of a wheelchair.
For Bramall’s mother, Rita, watching her daughter succumb to this condition has been devastating. “She’s gone downhill a lot quicker than her dad. Watching my own child go through this is indescribably painful. It breaks my heart,” Rita admitted.
She can’t stand that she has to watch her daughter suffer from seizures and reduce her food intake to just soft, mushy, baby foods.
Since Bramall has entered a care home, Rita has taken in her grandchildren – ages 12 and 18 – into her own home.
For these kids, the declination of their mom’s health has been even worse. “The last time I took [the kids] to see [their mom] they were left in a flood of tears,” Rita recalled.
Bramall’s brother Lee, 37, has also suffered greatly in the past nine years, “I see her all the time and we try to keep it normal, but my stomach has been in knots for five years as I see her fading away.”
The Bramall family are trying their best to care for Carla as normally as they can, even while knowing that doctors can do very little to help her because she has such a unique mutation of the illness.
For more information about Carla, watch an interview of her mother and brother below, and donate for her medical funds here.
